While Matt Reeves’ The Batman saga will continue at Warner Bros., the new DCU will also have its own Dark Knight. This version of Batman will also have a “Bat-family” of partners, living in a world with other superheroes. DC Studios will introduce this new Caped Crusader in a film called The Brave and the Bold.
Although Batman: The Brave and the Bold does not yet have a proper release date, there’s already talk of it being postponed. In this case, the talk comes from a reliable source. Speaking to Vorterix, director Andy Muschietti noted the DCU’s Batman movie has “been postponed a bit.” In full, Muschietti revealed, “I’m now writing a science fiction movie that I would like to do… Batman is a project that’s been postponed a bit. So there could be another film before it, possibly that one.” We can’t say for a fact, but it sounds like Muschietti thought Batman: The Brave and the Bold would be his next movie, but now it might be something else.
But, to complicate things, another reliable source, James Gunn himself debunked the idea of a delay. Addressing a potential postponement of the DCU’s Batman movie, Gunn noted on BlueSky, “The Brave and the Bold hasn’t been delayed, so I’m not sure what you’re talking about.”
Well, we’re not sure either. We guess if there’s no release date confirmed, there can’t actually be a meaningful delay. But still, it’s an interesting clash in perspective on production. That said, Gunn did recently share on the Happy Sad Confused podcast that while some parts of the DCU are really working and moving along, the Batman film isn’t one of them. “Brave and the Bold isn’t quite there,” Gunn said in short. And that could explain these “delays.”
Meanwhile, another Batman film, this one in the DCU’s Elseworlds, has also been delayed, more officially this time. The Batman—Part II will now move to 2027, two years after it was originally meant to come out. There’s no official connection between these two ideas, but it is a strange coincidence.
Here’s everything we know about the DCU’s introduction to Batman and Robin.
Title
As far as we know, the title is The Brave and the Bold, named after the old DC team-up comic book series. However, DC Studios may name it Batman: The Brave and the Bold, similar to the 2008 animated series. James Gunn has referred to it both ways. If Warner Bros. didn’t use the Batman brand name, we’d be very surprised.
The Brave and the Bold’s Plot
All we know of the plot is that it will focus on the relationship between Batman and his son Damian Wayne, a.k.a. Robin. In the comics, Damian is the fourth main Robin, and the only one that’s Bruce Wayne’s biological son. Here’s what DC Studios co-head James Gunn had to say about the film, when DC Studios announced it in January, 2023:
The Brave and the Bold is a story of Batman and his actual son, Damian Wayne. This is based on Grant Morrison’s great comic book run, Damian Wayne is my favorite Robin, he’s a little assassin who Batman tries to get in line and so this is the story of the two of them, and the beginning of sort of the Bat Family in the DCU.
Behind-the-Scenes
The announced director for The Brave and the Bold is Andy Muschietti, director of It and It: Chapter Two, and The Flash. No screenwriter is officially attached yet. And according to recent comments made by James Gunn, there’s no timeline for production to commence either. Here’s what he had to say:
There’s no set timeline for anything. The one thing that I’ve tried to make clear to people from the beginning, in the way that I hope we’re different, is that everything in DC is going to be based on the writers. Until we have a screenplay that I’m totally happy with, that movie is not going to get made , no matter what it is. So, we have been really fortunate with some screenplays. You know, ‘Supergirl‘ came in and just, wow Ana [Nogueria] did such an amazing job, the ‘Lanterns‘ pilot came in, and now the whole ‘Lanterns‘ series came in, and it’s like ‘Wow that’s wonderful, wonderful work.’ And there’s a couple of other things that people don’t know about, a couple of movies and TV shows that are greenlit or near greenlit. But it’s going to be based always on that, on the story, because at the end of the day if we’re happy with the story that we’re telling, that’s what matters most. And once ‘The Brave and the Bold‘ gets to that point, then we’ll make the movie.
The Brave and the Bold’s Cast
DC Studios has not cast anyone in any of the roles yet. But we imagine the casting of a new live-action cinematic Batman and Robin will once again cause much controversy. As well as potential villains like Ra’s al Ghul and his daughter Talia, Damian’s mother and grandfather.
The Brave and the Bold Release Date
There is no release date yet for The Brave and the Bold. We imagine Warner Bros. might not want two competing Batman live-action franchises in theaters, and could wait until Matt Reeves’ The Batman saga is over.
Originally published on December 23, 2024.
